Pizza Klatch

History

Pizza Klatch was founded in 2007 in Thurston County, Washington, in response to several suicides among LGBT youth in the area. A group of therapists, mental health professionals, and community leaders partnered with the North Thurston School District to create an after-school support group for high school students who identify as LGBT. This after-school support group was discontinued in the fall of 2007 due to students being discovered by disapproving parents. The support group was then moved to lunchtime and pizza was served at the first “Pizza Klatch” in February of 2008. It started with two schools and now serves pizza and convenes at 14 high schools and one middle school reaching nearly 440 students with 28 meetings per week. ² These schools are located in 7 different counties in the state of Washington. ³

Overview

Each support group is run by two adult co-facilitators who are themselves LGBT or supportive of LGBT interests and mandatory reporters. ¹ Under Washington State law, mandatory reporters are people who must make a report if they “have reason to believe abuse, neglect, abandonment, or financial exploitation of a vulnerable adult or child.” ⁴ A typical group begins with reviewing ground rules followed by check-ins, at which participants are encouraged to share something going well in their life and something that they are being challenged or struggling with. The purpose of this is to create an opportunity for the members to discuss their experiences. The facilitators also plan a discussion or bring in guest speakers to discuss specific topics like sexual orientation or religion. ¹

In June of 2015, Pizza Klatch earned a $25,000 grant from State Farm Insurance Company after applying with 4,000 other organizations vying for the grant. Some of the youth members of the Pizza Klatch programs accepted a giant check from State Farm on stage at the Capital City Pride Festival in downtown Olympia. ⁵  On September 6, 2014, Pizza Klatch hosted an annual silent auction called “A Slice of the Good Life” in Olympia, with the proceeds going to Pizza Klatch. The event is sponsored by GoodTherapy.org. ⁶ Pizza Klatch received an award from the Gender Justice League’s gender justice awards in 2021 called the Youth Organization Award. ⁷ The Gender Justice League is a left-of-center LGBTQ+ advocacy group  that focuses on transgender issues and is located in Seattle, Washington. ⁸